cdmagurus.com
09-10-2013, 03:50 PM
http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/09/store-front-night_400x266-100053425-orig.pngUpgrading your phone? Get ready for some extra walking around money, courtesy of a huge new trade-in program being launched by America’s largest retailer.
Wal-Mart is launching a trade-in program that will give consumers immediate credit (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57602173-94/walmart-will-credit-you-up-to-$300-for-your-old-iphone-5/) toward the purchase of a new smart phone when they turn over their old one at more than 3,600 participating Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations. More than 100 phones are included in the program (http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/walmart-launches-smartphone-trade-in-program-in-the-us-223101961.html), including a tidy $175 for a Samsung Galaxy SIII, provided it’s in working, non-damaged condition.
The programs make sense. Merchants have only limited power over the prices they can set for new handsets: Since they are already so heavily subsidized by the service providers, there’s often not much room available for additional discounting. Could trade-in prices soon become a new tool in the ongoing smartphone price war? Given that the hardware is essentially the same from one shop to the next, it’s becoming increasingly imperative for merchants to come up with unique incentives to drive not just what you buy, but where you buy it.
In line with other companies that have trade-in operations, Wal-Mart’s trade-in prices can be immediately applied to the purchase of any new phone with a two-year contract. As well, Wal-Mart and its recycling/upcycling partner, CExchange (http://cexchange.com/), have stated that their policy is that phones which are traded in will never be sent to landfills either domestically or abroad.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here (http://cdmagurus.com/article/2048492/wal-mart-escalates-cell-phone-war-with-smartphone-trade-in-program.html#jump)
More... (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048492/wal-mart-escalates-cell-phone-war-with-smartphone-trade-in-program.html#tk.rss_all)
Wal-Mart is launching a trade-in program that will give consumers immediate credit (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57602173-94/walmart-will-credit-you-up-to-$300-for-your-old-iphone-5/) toward the purchase of a new smart phone when they turn over their old one at more than 3,600 participating Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations. More than 100 phones are included in the program (http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/walmart-launches-smartphone-trade-in-program-in-the-us-223101961.html), including a tidy $175 for a Samsung Galaxy SIII, provided it’s in working, non-damaged condition.
The programs make sense. Merchants have only limited power over the prices they can set for new handsets: Since they are already so heavily subsidized by the service providers, there’s often not much room available for additional discounting. Could trade-in prices soon become a new tool in the ongoing smartphone price war? Given that the hardware is essentially the same from one shop to the next, it’s becoming increasingly imperative for merchants to come up with unique incentives to drive not just what you buy, but where you buy it.
In line with other companies that have trade-in operations, Wal-Mart’s trade-in prices can be immediately applied to the purchase of any new phone with a two-year contract. As well, Wal-Mart and its recycling/upcycling partner, CExchange (http://cexchange.com/), have stated that their policy is that phones which are traded in will never be sent to landfills either domestically or abroad.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here (http://cdmagurus.com/article/2048492/wal-mart-escalates-cell-phone-war-with-smartphone-trade-in-program.html#jump)
More... (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048492/wal-mart-escalates-cell-phone-war-with-smartphone-trade-in-program.html#tk.rss_all)